The Winter Hunters
by Gallifrey Immigrant
Summary: The Doctor, Barbara, Susan, and Ian take a vacation on a planet where winter only lasts for 3 days (and its a few minutes away!). But as winter arrives, horrible creatures arise from the ground...Barbara and Susan will soon learn why everyone stays indoors during the 3 Day Winter. The Feast Begins.
1. Chapter 1

Barbara shivered in the cool breeze. "Isn't exactly the Bahamas here, is it Doctor?"

The alien traveler known as the Doctor walked out of the blue box known as the TARDIS. "Barbara, this looks nothing like the Bahamas on your planet. May I remind you, it's the Planet Kald-doden. Unique in all your galaxy for having a 3 day winter. And winter's just a few hours away."

"It was sarcasm, Doctor," she said, though by now she was used to the Doctor's oddities. She was even beginning to like them.

"I wonder if they build snow-men here!" exclaimed the unmistakable voice of Susan Foreman. "Me and my grandfather didn't make any snow-men till we came to Earth. And there wasn't much stuff like that at home. Right, grandfather?"

"'Grandfather and I', Susan.," said Ian, the other teacher besides Barbara in this traveling group—and also the other human.

"Stop haranguing my granddaughter, Ian," said the Doctor absentmindedly. He was looking at a statue in front of them that had a display saying "20 minutes." The statue was of a impossibly green colored young girl, with a circular face that looked almost child-like. Her bright blue eyes, however, looked far older.

Susan came to his side. "Looks so life-like..." And then she yelped, as the statue started to move.

However, the Doctor wasn't afraid at all, and was in fact smiling. "Hold steady, child. Simply advanced animatronics, using a slight perception filter. Rather advanced, actually."

"So, how long are we staying?" said Barbara.

The Doctor's smile fell. "Well...I don't know."

"What do you mean, you don't know?" said Ian.

"I didn't just stop here for a vacation. The TARDIS needs some repairs—escaping aliens that literally eat time put a bit of wear on my ship. And I can see you about to say something, Ian—don't start complaining. Had you simply left the negotiations to me, we wouldn't have gotten into that horrible bit of mess. But since you had to get involved, we are just going to have to sit here for a small while." Without even waiting for a rebuttal, the Doctor went off to the ship, "Enjoy the planet. It's a very rare event, this winter. In a 100 years, people will pay 1000s for the winter you're getting for free."

"When I'm freezing, I'll remember it's a 1000 dollar freeze. That will definitely cheer me up," Ian muttered. "Well, he's made up his mind. Let's go explore this town."

"_Ghost town is more like it," _thought Barbara. There were small houses lining the red brick roads. Some were short, and some were long, but you could tell innovation was not on the house designers' minds. An early frost, covering all the rooftops, heralded the winter soon coming. The spookiest thing that Barbara noted was that there was no one on the roads. The trio—two Earthlings, with an increasingly nervous Gallifreyan behind them—walked and walked, but saw no one.

"The Doctor sure picked a _great _spot for a vacation," said Ian.

Suddenly, the statue looked at them.

"Hello?" Barbara felt silly talking to a statue, but she had no better idea.

"Feast in 10 minutes," sang the statue.

"Maybe this trip will be worth having after all! I wonder what they're gonna serve us" said Ian.

"Quiet," said Barbara. "It's still talking."

The statue seemed to smile at that, as if grateful to not be interrupted. "Rule 1: Do Not Take A Hunter's Weapon. Rule 2: Do Not Disturb the Announcer In Any Way." She then pointed toward herself, indicating she was the announcer. When it appeared the trio understood, she continued, "Rule 3: Do Not Enter The Hunters' Lair. If you break, or help someone else break, any of these rules, you will be punished. The Feast last for the Winter of Three Days. Good luck. Feast is now in 7 minutes." And with that, the Announcer closed her eyes, and folded her hands in front of her chest.

"So as long as we don't mess with these rules, we won't be kicked out the feast? Seems pretty easy," said Ian.

Barbara looked at the statue. Something seemed off. "Ian, maybe we should go find the Doctor."

"Hey, I see somebody!" said Susan.

Indeed, a man was going into his house. He opened his door, and before Barbara could even say hello, he ran inside. All she saw was the flash of his red sweater, and the one-eyed raven insignia on its back.

"Dammit!" Ian said.

Barbara sighed. "Keep on the lookout, Susan. Something's going—Susan?"

Susan was pressing her hands to her head in pain. "I feel...woozy," she said.

"Do you need aspirin or something?" said Barbara.

"Never...give..maa...aspirin," Susan slurred, clearly getting worse by the second. "Grannfaather...say..poisonous...need to get to TARDIII...now."

In the midst of this odd scene, the Announcer cried: "Feast: 1 minute 30 secs."

"We should try to see if this man can help us," said Ian. "I'll-. Huh. That's odd."

"What's odd? Speak quick!" said Barbara.

"He didn't even lock the door. I'll just open it and-." Ian was suddenly grabbed by the man inside the house and dragged inside. Then the door was locked.

"Feast: 1 min."

"That announcer's starting to annoy me," said Barbara. (She could have sworn the statue blushed at that, but Barbara had other things on her mind.) "Let us in, dammit!" Barbara knocked on the door furiously. No response.

"Feast: 30 secs."

Barbara ,feeling desperate, checked on Susan. Susan was muttering something under her breath. "What are you saying?"

"The Hunt Has Started. The Feast is in Place. The Sacrifice Is Ready. All hail the Feast."

Having had enough of this, Barbara did the only thing she could think of, and slapped Susan. "Snap out of it!"

Susan blinked in shock. "Ow! Why did you do that?"

Barbara said angrily, "Because you were talking nonsense! Now we find the Doc-!"

"THE FEAST IS NOW!"

Then Barbara heard a wolf howl. But it was unlike any wolf howl she had ever heard before. This howl seemed to come from below the very ground; Barbara could feel it vibrating it beneath her feet. The she heard another. And another. Barbara began to hold Susan tight.

And the Hunters began to search for the first two pieces of the Feast, who were holding each other tight.


	2. Chapter 2

Barbara was frozen for just a moment. Then she shook off her panic—she couldn't afford it.

"Susan, we need to leave," she said. She looked around at the other houses. They all were dark inside.

Susan was trying to open one of the doors. It wouldn't budge.

"Let us in!" she shouted, banging at the door. Finally, Susan stopped, exasperated and confused. "What in Rassilon's name is going on?"

"I think that the 'Feast' is why everyone's inside. And, whatever that event is, people are so afraid they aren't letting us in," said Barbara. The cold air was beginning to numb her face.

"I hope Grandfather's okay—wait, what's that sound?" said Susan. Barbara cupped her hands to her ear, trying to listen to what Susan's ears picked up.

Footsteps. Several footsteps, getting louder and louder. And a faint growling sound.

"We need to find someplace to hide, _now. _Your grandfather can take care of himself," Barbara said, taking Susan's hand. As the two began to walk away, Barbara looked back at the statue. It looked apologetic

Barbara and Susan snaked their way down the street and passed by a number of unlighted houses. The lack of illumination made the streets look even more lonely. Nearly blind in the snowy darkness, both Barbara and Susan kept on tripping on pieces of snowy debris left on the ground, slowing them down. Barbara noted that many of the objects strewn across the ground looked like familiar items-tools, children's toys and even what was, although an unrecognizable shape, clearly a smiling snowman. This town had been filled with activity. Why was everyone so secret and unhelpful tonight?

"Teacher?" said Susan, waking Barbara from her train of thought.

"Yes?" said Barbara. "If you need to stop, we can spare a few moments. But not too long." To be honest, Barbara was getting tired.

"No, I don't need to rest," said Susan, "but...I have a bad feeling suddenly."

Barbara looked around. There were only a few houses around now. Looking out, Barbara just saw snow covered ground littered with dark trees. Nothing seemed wrong. Barbara had been on too many travels with the Doctor to think that meant nothing could go wrong but...

"Everything seems okay. Maybe we'll try some more houses," said Barbara. Susan nodded, stretching her arms and looking at the sky.

Had she not done that, she wouldn't have seen the yellow-eyed giant wolf perched on the roof of a nearby house, or see it leap to the two, with its large blood speckled mouth opening in preparation for her flesh.

But she did. "Move, now!" Susan cried, almost ramming Barbara out of the way. They both collapsed in a heap on a snowy mound. The cold snow snuck its way into Barbara's clothes, and Barbara quickly got up, still a little confused as to Susan's out burst.

The daze wore off quickly when Barbara saw what Susan had saved them from. It was a wolf that was almost as big as Barbara herself. The wolf's fur was a bright blue, except red spots where blood had spilled (and Barbara had a horrible suspicion that wasn't its own blood). There was a metal helmet on the wolf's head etched with an unrecognizable symbol.

"Susan, run!" said Barbara. Barbara turned to run herself, but the wolf roared at her, and the blast of air made her lose balance, and knocked her on her back.

"Barbara!" said Susan. The wolf began to run to the girl, jaws hanging open.

Barbara scrambled to get up. As she pushed herself from the floor, she saw something glinting. Picking it up, she realized it was a sword. At any other time, Barbara would have wondered why a sword had been left there, but right now she had other things on her mind. With the ice covered sword handle freezing in her hand, she trudged through the snow toward the giant wolf.

Susan was throwing snow and leaves at the wolf, who was advancing to her. Barbara quickened her pace.

"Hey, you giant mutt! Come over and mess with someone your own size!" said Barbara.

The wolf turned around and cocked its head at Barbara, as if considering her challenge. Then, before Barbara could react, it jumped to straight in front of her.

Barbara wildly swung at the wolf's head. The creature dodged the blow, and aimed a paw at her chest. Barbara tried to dodge—and was unsuccessful. She was thrown to the ground. Instinctively, she drew the sword to her face. The wolf was already above her, its claws waiting to rip off her eyes. Despite the blade blocking the wolf's next blow, she still felt like someone had bashed her face with a hammer. Thinking quickly, she threw her fist at the wolf's eye. As she expected, the wolf jumped back—even giant monsters have an instinct to get away from objects flying to their eyes. That split second gave Barbara an opening—she threw the sword into its side, praying for victory.

The wolf was fast, however, and dodged-she only managed to cut off its tail. The wolf stared at the wound for a moment, as if it had never been wounded before. Then it turned and walked slowly toward towards Barbara. Barbara suddenly realized she had been backed into a corner. Barbara brandished the sword, cursing her teacher from years ago Mr. Darcy who wouldn't let girls take fencing lessons. At least Susan would be able to get away.

"Stop."

Susan's voice was level as she commanded the wolf. The creature stopped in its tracks.

"Stop, and go back to where you came," Susan continued. "You can understand me, yes? Then leave us."

The wolf turned to Susan. It gave a ear-deafening snarl. Barbara could see fear peek out from Susan's face.

But then the wolf obeyed her orders. It walked away, ignoring both Barbara and Susan. The bloody trail left by the wound Barbara inflicted, and the holes in the snow from her feet, was soon the only evidence of the wolf.

Even after the wolf had left, Barbara and Susan were tense. "Are you okay?" asked Susan after a few minutes.

"I'll live. I thought I told you to run," said Barbara. Without the adrenaline, Barbara was beginning to feel the cold again, and now the pain of fighting.

"You were in danger, plus Grandfather always says I should practice using my psychic abilities whenever I can," said Susan.

"Next time I tell you to run, you will do as I say. Do you understand?" Barbara said with perhaps more irritation than necessary. She knew Susan was only trying to lessen the tension, but the teacher still wasn't in the mood for levity.

Susan looked a little hurt, but nodded.

"Good. And thank you for saving my life," said Barbara, putting her arm around Susan and forcing herself to smile for Susan's benefit.

Susan didn't smile back, though she snuggled closer to Barbara. The young girl picked up the tail left behind by the wolf.

"Have you or the Doctor seen anything like that wolf before?" said Barbara.

"No. I've never seen anything like this before. Grandfather certainly never mentioned—wait, we've got to tell the others about the beast!" said Susan.

"First, we find someone to talk to about what's going on. By the way, how long does winter last on this planet?" said Barbara.

"For 3 days, according to Grandfather. Why?" said Susan.

"Because something tells me that those creatures will be walking around for those 3 days. And if I'm correct, unless we find our way in, no one's going to help us during that time," said Barbara.

"Meaning?" said Susan.

Barbara looked out at the rows of houses in front of her. A distant scraping sound hit her ears, and made her shudder at what it could be coming from.

"We'll have to force our way in," said Barbara.


End file.
